How can doctors work 24+ hour shifts and be expected to maintain enough focus and alertness to manage people's health?

I didn't know this was a thing. It's ridiculous. You need a crazy amount of concentration just to be a doctor at all, let alone completing 24 consecutive hours of that. Where is the sleep? Where is the rest? Food? They're human too. I understand contuity of care but is it really worth it when that care is so strained? It's not healthy!

And add onto that the repercussions if they make a mistake? Someone's life could be on the line. They're expected to handle that responsibility for over a full day with NO time to recover?

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FreeorLonely · 51-55, F

I often wondered about that myself, there are beds for them to sleep if they have a break in between patients, but ya some of those surgeries are loooong!

SinlessOnslaught · M

@FreeorLonely They're often crunching numbers and doing jobs that require extreme precision (both physically and mentally), on a time crunch, dealing with argumentative people, among other things, all at the same time, with incredibly little room for mistakes. And now I'm learning it's for that much sustained time. The amount of responsibility is ridiculous.